The Present Invention relates to the field of surgical and other permeable masks that are used to reduce transmission of airborne particulates and harmful airborne contaminants. It also relates to the field of electrostatic compositions that protect against the same harmful contaminants.
Healthcare professionals, personnel and visitors to such facilities as well as patients are particularly susceptible to infections spread by harmful contaminants found in operating rooms and other hospital facilities. Consequently, doctors and nurses employ a sterilization procedure and wear protective gear so as to prevent contaminants from their own bodies being transmitted to patients thereby infecting them. Surgical masks are worn by hospital personnel to prevent their own bacterial organisms from being transmitted to patients by respiratory secretions. Many other people wear surgical or other permeable masks. People with colds, particularly in Asian countries, wear these masks to avoid infecting others. Conversely, during times of airborne epidemics, many people wear the masks to avoid infection. Still others wear the masks in dusty environments to avoid inhaling the dust.
The Present Applicant has previously invented products and methods for restricting the flow of airborne contaminants into the nasal passages by creating an electrostatic field in an area near about the nasal passages. This reduced the inflow of airborne contaminants to the nasal passages by capturing these contaminants and keeping them from entering the body. These products and methods can be found in the Present Applicant's US patents and US provisional applications that have been incorporated by reference into the Present Application.
Surgical and other permeable masks are used to stop contaminants from entering the mouth and nose of people administering healthcare or working in other areas where there is a danger of having dangerous particles enter the oral and nasal passages. These masks, however, have pores that can still allow the smallest particles to pass through them. The Present Invention applies an electrostatic charge to the mask wherein said charge will reduce and/or eliminate this risk, by capturing oppositely charged contaminants ranging in size from 0 to 30 microns.
Various cationic and anionic liquids are known in the art which create an electrostatic field when applied to a surface. Some were described in the Present Applicant's U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,468,488 (issued on Nov. 21, 1995), 5,674,481 (issued on Oct. 7, 1997), and 6,844,005 (issued on Jan. 18, 2005). Depending upon specific contaminants from which protection is sought, the fabric of the mask is coated with one of these liquid or semi-solid products. After application, the coating is dried completely or semi-dried. It may also be allowed to remain wet. After application of the coating, these products provide an electrostatic field around the mask which either repels similarly charged particulates or attracts oppositely charged contaminant particles. Those contaminant particles that are brought to the mask bind to the fabric through electrostatic attraction. They do not travel away from the mask. Therefore, these outside airborne contaminants that are attracted to the mask do not enter the mask wearer's nose or mouth, and these contaminants that are attracted to the mask and are expelled from the wearer's nose or mouth do not travel beyond the mask even though they might be smaller than the permeable openings in the mask. On the other hand, those particles that are repelled from the mask will not pass through the mask in either direction regardless of size.
There are several ways to fabricate the above product all essentially with the primary objective of increasing the filtration efficiency of the mask.
A formulation of the invention comprises:
In an exemplary embodiment of such a formulation, the amount of water may range from 64% to 77% by weight; quaternary conditioner (at least one must be present)—0.4% to 18% by weight; humectant—8% to 11% by weight; emollient—3% to 6% by weight; preservative—0.3% by weight; and biocidic agent—0.2% to 0.5% by weight.
In an exemplary embodiment of such a formulation, a quaternary conditioner may comprise, without limitation, a least one of the following:
In an exemplary embodiment of such a formulation, a humectant may comprise, without limitation Glycerin or Acetamide MEA. Also, in an exemplary embodiment, an emollient may comprise, without limitation Dipropylene Glycol. Further, in an exemplary embodiment, a surfactant may comprise, without limitation, Octoxynol-9. In addition, a chelating agent may comprise, without limitation, Tetrasodium EDTA. Finally, in an exemplary embodiment, a biocidic agent may comprise, without limitation, Lysine HCL.
In an exemplary embodiment of such a formulation, a preservative may comprise, without limitation:
In an exemplary embodiment of the formulation:
Examples of typical formulations appear in Tables 1-10 (infra):
a) The Present application is the non-provisional counterpart of U.S. Provisional Application Ser. No. 61/091,931 filed on Aug. 26, 2008 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.b) The Present application is related to my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/467,271 filed on May 16, 2009 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.c) The Present application is related to my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/466,382 filed on May 14, 2009 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.d) The Present application is related to my pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/161,821 filed on Jun. 4, 2002 which is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.e) The Present application is related to my U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,488, entitled “ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGED NASAL APPLICATION PRODUCT AND METHOD” issued on Nov. 21, 1995. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.f) The Present application is related to my U.S. Pat. No. 5,674,481, entitled “ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGED NASAL TOPICAL APPLICATION PRODUCT” issued on Oct. 7, 1997. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.g) The Present application is related to my U.S. Pat. No. 6,844,005 entitled “ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGED NASAL APPLICATION PRODUCT WITH INCREASED STRENGTH” issued on Jan. 18, 2005. This patent is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.h) Finally, this application is related to U.S. Non-Provisional Utility patent application Ser. No. 10/082,978 entitled “ELECTROSTATICALLY CHARGED NASAL APPLICATION PRODUCT WITH INCREASED STRENGTH” filed on Feb. 25, 2002. This patent application is incorporated by reference in its entirety herein.
Number | Date | Country | |
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61091931 | Aug 2008 | US |